"Wow, this burrito is delicious, but it is filling." Ron Burgundy

This past Saturday was absolutely beautiful out, and B and I hadn't really seen eat other much due to my work schedule, so we spent a nice day tooling around Old City and Northern Liberties.  After a run over the Ben Franklin, we stopped in for brunch at Honey's Sit 'N Eat.  You are guaranteed at least a half an hour wait to enjoy Honey's down-home, and in many instances Jewish-inspired, brunch classics, but you will not leave disappointed.

B opted for the breakfast burrito.

Unlike many breakfast burritos around Philly, it was a manageable size and focused on the important stuff - eggs, beans, fresh corn, cheese - without a lot of meddlesome filler foods (i.e. potato chunks).  I personally don't often go for burritos (breakfast or otherwise), but because they are one of B's go-to menu choices I have tried fair share.  That being said I feel equipped to say that Honey's does a great job.

I stayed classic, ordering scrambled eggs with American cheese, grits, and a biscuit (my college roommate JEM used to call this combo my typical breakfast - she was midwestern so I think I might have been the first person in her life to order grits on the regular). 

It is so difficult to find a good order of grits up North, so whenever I see them on a menu the Southerner in me takes over and the grits essentially drive the rest of my meal.  Although simple, my food was just perfect.

After brunch I dropped B off at a coffee house in Northern Liberties so he could get some studying done. When we met back up later that evening, we headed to Dos Segundos for dinner and drinks. Although my camera freaked and somehow all of my photos from dinner were deleted, I can report that B had yet another burrito, goat rather than breakfast this time around, and unlike the reasonably-portioned burrito at Honey's, Dos Segundo's was the size of my head. I turned down B's offers for a taste, something about the goat just grosses me out, but he had nothing but rave reviews (although he was only able to make it about 3/4 of the way through the monstrosity before calling it quits). I had the scallop taco special, which was absolutely delicious. The scallops were marinated in a nicely spicy chile sauce and accompanied by a simple garnish of sweet corn, scallions, and a chile "jam" of sorts.

While our meals were great, the highlight of the night was that Dos Segundos has, without a doubt, the best white wine sangria that I have ever had. It wasn't too sweet, had a wonderful cinnamon undertone, and incorporated just the right amount of fresh fruit to allow a nibble or two without cheating you out of a full glass of sangria. If you are a sangria fan in the least I insist you try it immediately.

"Food/drink lists will soon surpass racial issues and McNabb/Reid as the most controversial and debated topics in Philadelphia." - Rascal B. Schuylkillian

In the spirit of Philadelphia Magazine's Burger Bracket, B and I went to Standard Tap for dinner two Fridays ago.  The ambiance is cool, and reminds me of the Anthropologie catalogue - antique-looking with a stone-hearth fire place and dark walls with white trim and crown molding.  That being said, the service was pretty bad, the we-don't-use-paper-menus-only-chalk-boards schtick is a little irritating to me, and the disco ball they have hanging upstairs seems pretty random and out of place.

For dinner B ordered the burger with everything:

It was nicely cooked and really tasty.  The only real complaint I can mount about this entire plate of food is the pickles - they had such a severe garlic taste that I literally choked after taking a bite.

I ordered the mussels and sausage with a side of fries:

The fries were wonderful, thin and nicely salted, but the mussels were all butter and extremely mealy.  I would definitely avoid them.

For those of you keeping track, Pub & Kitchen ultimately beat out Standard Tap in Round 2 of the Burger Bowl.  Log on and vote for the final round!  Its Village Whiskey v. P&K - definitely worth a taste test :)

"Food is the most primitive form of comfort." - Sheila Graham

I've been working some seriously long hours lately.  It sucks, but, my colleagues I try to find ways to make it more bearable - like getting Famous Dave's takeout for dinner.

LF got the duel plate of BBQ pork and sausage with fries and baked beans on the side (every meal comes with a corn muffin and corn on the cob)

I opted for the bbq pork with fries on the side.

There's nothing gormet about it, but slather on extra "rich and sassy" sauce and you've got yourself some seriously good comfort food.

“It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun.” Ray Kroc

As I mentioned last week, Philly Mag is holding a burger bracket for Philadelphia's best burger.  The competition is heating up as we head into round 2.  In my opinion the Pub & Kitchen v. Standard Tap duel is a particularly tight race as both have fantastic burgers.  As more of an "uptown" gal, my money is on Pub & Kitchen - they have a good, inexpensive beer list, great bar snacks (hello truffle fries), and, of course, a delicious burger!

 

Who are you rooting for?

"Actually we've got a nice little Saturday planned." - Frank the Tank

The weather this Saturday was great so B and I went for a run over the Ben Franklin and then took our bikes for some errands around Philly.  Our first stop was brunch at Varga.  B and I both ordered the egg white veggie omelet off the special menu and shared sides of cheddar grits and turkey bacon.

The grits and bacon were great, but the omelet was slimy and entirely overwhelmed by truffle (to be fair, B completely disagreed with my distaste for the dish and entirely cleaned his plate).  Given that I ate little for brunch, after a few stops (including Benjamin's on the Row, a quirky cobbler who charges only $15 for shoe stretching no matter how many rounds of stretching you need to undergo to get it right) and some shopping, we stopped by Slice for a piece of pizza.

I had plain, B pepperoni and mushroom.  The pizza was great, and they had the Phillies on the big screen.

After a few final afternoon errands, we stopped in at National Mechanics and then Drinkers for the last few legs of a pub crawl raising money for cancer research.  The crawl continued well into the evening but around 8 we split off with my pal MMA and her boyfriend RR for dinner at Khyber.  Until about three months ago, Khyber was a notorious music venue.  Beginning as a middle eastern jazz bar, Khyber morphed into a breakout spot hosting early shows by Beck, Guided by Voices, a secret gig by Iggy Pop, and the list goes on.  Unfortunately it was less successful in later years - due as much to competition in the marketplace as to the trendy "reinvention" of Old City Philadelphia.  Thankfully, this Philadelphia mainstay has been given new life as a pub featuring an impressive beer list and southern-inspired bar food.

We started with the wing sampler and the bacon-grease popcorn.

The wings, grilled and smothered in chipotle-bourbon barbecue, buffalo, and honey-habanero sauce (respectively from left), were tender and juicy.  My favorite was the chipotle-bourbon barbecue (beware: the honey-habanero brings some serious heat).

The bacon-grease popcorn was just as finger-licking delicious as it sounds.

For dinner I had the fried green tomato blt and B had the half-and-half po boy (half fried shrimp, half fried oyster).

The blt was absolutely amazing, although I was barely able to finish half, made only more amazing by the cheddar fries with debris gravy I ordered on the side. 

The roll on the po boy was crusty on the outside while soft on the inside, and the oysters and shrimp were both golden fried but neither rubbery or greasy.  B's side of mac and cheese struck a nice balance between cheesy and gooey and had a nice crunch due to the breadcrumb topping (here's a tip, try dipping a few bites of the mac and cheese in the debris gravy - yum).

After rolling ourselves out of there we headed home to watch SNL.  My friend Sarah co-wrote the digital short this week, and has been asked to stay on as a writer for the remainder of the season.  Congrats!

"A great taco rocks with distinct tastes that roll on and on, like a little party on your tongue, with layers of flavor and textures . . . At the end of our two or three-bite taco you just want to repeat the experience until you are sated." - Deborah Schneider

Friday night, B and I had dinner at Iron Chef Jose Garces' Distrito.  Distrito, one of seven Garces restaurants in Philadelphia, features traditional Mexican cuisine with an upscale spin served tapas style.  When we arrived for our 7:30 reservation the table "wasn't quite ready" so we had a couple of cocktails at the bar - a fresh pineapple margarita for me and a tequila gimlet for B (that's right tequila gimlet... a unique twist on the classic).

I'd had the pineapple margarita at Distrito before, and loved it, but this time around the fresh pineapple juice was completely overpowered by the tequila and salt.

When we finally sat down (over half an hour later), we were served some spicy peanuts with lime zest.

The nuts provided the perfect nosh while we looked over the menu.  We ultimately opted for the "Diego Rivera" tasting.  The first course included guacamole, a tuna ceviche, and a salad:

The guacamole was creamy and the salsa verde was zippy without being overwhelming.

The tuna ceviche was served with avocado, granny smith apples, diced serano chiles, a serano chile sauce, and a pickled radish salad.  Not featured on the regular menu, this delicious little ditty managed to pack some serious punch without overpowering the fish.

When they brought out the salad I admit I thought "what a throw away," but the cool crispness of the fresh ingredients - romaine, baby arugula, watercress, granny smith apples, cranberries, walnuts, cilantro, cotija cheese cubes, honey-lime vinaigrette, and topped with tortilla strips - proved a great complement to the heat of the ceviche.

While waiting for the second course, we ordered another round of drinks.  B tried the cazadores tequila flight with a negro modelo, and I the Hemingway (chile infused jimador tequila with maraschino cherry and grapefruit juices).

The Hemingway was delicious, and I'm always a sucker for a champagne coupe.

For the second course, we were served fish tacos and mushroom flatbread.

Now, a bit of history here.  I have a long standing aversion to fish tacos.  B loves them and he is always trying to turn me, but inevitably I just don't care for them.  That was, I never cared for them until Friday night.  Served with chipotle remoulade, avocado, and red cabbage, these plantain encrusted himachi tacos were ration-your-bites good. 

The mushroom flatbread was equally delicious.  The flavors were wonderfully layered so although I was immediately struck by the subtle taste of mushrooms and black truffle, I was left appreciating the sweet corn flavor of the huitlacoche sauce.  Huitlacoche is made from corn smut.  Corn smut is a disease of corn caused by a plant fungus called ustilago maydis.  It usually replaces the normal kernels of the cobs with large distorted "tumors" analogous to mushrooms.  Farmers prepare corn silage, a fermented, high-moisture fodder, out of smutted corn by placing the corn in a large heap covered with a plastic sheet.  This silage is known in Mexico as huitlacoche.


Our third course included scallops and carne asada with a side of refried beans.

 The refried beans were good, though wholly ordinary.

The scallops were buttery and set off nicely by the heat and acid of the sauce - habanero, sweet corn, grapefruit, and pineapple.

Served on a bed of wonderfully creamy poblano corn rice, the steak was unfortunately dry and extremely gristly (it is likely, however, that our disappointment in the steak was heightened by all of the other perfectly executed dishes before it).

Despite the failings with the carne asada, we were completely stuffed by the time dessert came out.  That being said, we managed a few nibbles of the flan, served with cider caramel and toasted hazelnut.

Days later B and I are still raving over this dinner.  Although Tinto remains my favorite of the Garces endeavors, I would highly recommend checking out the "Diego Rivera" tasting menu at Distrito (or at the least the fish tacos and mushroom flatbread).

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like 'What about lunch?'" - Winnie the Pooh

Today my colleague LF and I took lunch at one of my favorite chain spots, Seasons 52.  Seasons 52 touts a seasonally inspired menu on which no item has more than 475 calories.  I had the mediterranean gyro flatbread:

Essentially an open-faced gyro, the lamb was nicely cooked and the flatbread fresh but crisp.  My only complaint would be that the tsatsiki sauce fell a little flat (no pun intended).

LF had the grilled sesame chicken skewers.

I snagged a bite of the chicken and the teriyaki sauce was quite tasty.  To finish we indulged in a carrot cake each off the mini dessert tray (afterall our lunches were under 475 calories):

For a lunch time dessert the mini size of this cream-cheese-frosting-layered deliciousness was just perfect - any more than four or five bites and I would have been asleep at my desk for the rest of the afternoon.

If you're in the mood for a slightly more healthy spin on the typical chain, I'd definitely recommend Seasons 52 (I also hear they have great deals on bar snacks at happy hour).

"March Madness. We don't mind being the Cinderella." - Tony Skinn

If the end of March Madness has you feeling a bit empty, Philly Magazine is offering a little something to fill the void: a burger bracket for Philadelphia’s best burger. 

Although I definitely think Philly Mag has left off a few serious contenders, this could nonetheless prove a great excuse to sample some of Philadelphia's best beef.

Who do you favor to win??

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'" - Robin Williams

Today was the first day it legitimately felt like spring in Philadelphia.  B had an appointment in South Jersey near my office, so we were able to take advantage of the weather and get out of the office for a lunch date at one of our south jersey favorites, the Tortilla Press.

Ordering was a bit of a dilemma for me.  Tortilla Press has a fantastic Mexican pizza that used to only pop up as a special but has since become a menu staple.  That being said, it is a little big to have with a side and I LOVE their sweet potato fries.  After a bit of an internal debate, the sweet potato fries stole the day and I went for the crab and avocado quesadilla with sweet potato fries on the side.

As always it was simple and delicious (that side of sour cream and diced tomatoes doesn't look like much but it perfectly kicks the quesadilla up a notch).

B went for the chicken alambre burrito - chicken, chorizo, rajas, red rice, guajillo chile sauce, pinto beans, and cheese.

Thumbs up :)  And the whole meal only cost $26!!

I know it'll get chilly again before it stays nice out for good, but with a peek of the warm weather to come and a great break from work for a lunch with B, today was a real treat.

"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

One of my friends Sarah Schneider* was recently offered a two-week stint as a guest writer for Saturday Night Live (which, if all goes well, may parlay into a full time position).  Not many people know that each week there are roughly 50 skits written for SNL, of which only 11 or so make it to production.  Despite those odds, a skit written by our very own Sarah Schneider made it to air last weekend! 

To celebrate our soon to be famous friend, a small group met for dinner at FridaySaturdaySunday.  On the plus side, FridaySaturdaySunday has a bar, which guarantees a $10 max markup for its bottles of wine, AND allows its patrons to byob without charging a corkage fee.  That type of variety and accommodation is extremely hard to find in Philly.  On the down side, what you can save on alcohol, you will spend on the food.

I started with the five-leaf salad with goat cheese, walnuts, honey, and walnut oil vinaigrette.

It was clean and crisp and I really liked the walnut oil vinaigrette.  If it had been $6 instead of $12, I would have no complaints.  For my entree I had the crab cake.

Although I could have done without the jicama salad, the cake had a ton of crab meat (too often crab cakes are all bread) and the remoulade sauce was nicely spicy without being overpowering.  Again, if it had been $10 or $15 I'd have been completely satisfied, but it was just a little too "ordinary" for a $20 singular crab cake (I got the appetizer portion, the entree portion, 2 cakes with potatoes instead of jicama salad, is $27).

Here's a shot of BMH and SH, visiting from D.C., at the restaurant:

(Sorry for blinding you guys with my phone camera's flash!)

After dinner we headed back to JEG's condo for drinks, desserts, and SNL.  A shot of our fab hostess at work:

Dinner ended a little earlier than we planned, so we played a few hands of Scattergories while we waited for the SNL to come on.

All and all it was a great, and hilarious, night.  Congrats Schneids!

*You will note that unlike the usual cast of characters in my life, I've used Sarah's full name.  She's on her way to stardom so I figure if the jig isn't up now, it will be soon enough.

“Today's egg is better than tomorrow's hen.” - Turkish Proverb

Yesterday B and I debated what protein we would select if we had to eat just one protein for the rest of our lives.  His choice, chicken; mine, eggs.  That being said, this post is going to be a little homage to my favorite protein.

For dinner last night B and I went to one of my favorite restaurants in Philly, Supper.  The menu at Supper is ever-changing because they focus exclusively on farm-fresh American cuisine (in fact, Supper's produce is grown exclusively by Blue Elephant Farm, a privately-owned organic farm in Newton Square).  Supper has been getting a lot of press lately for its deviled eggs, which snagged the restaurant a nod as "Best of Philly 2010: Bar Snacks" from Philadelphia Magazine.

With all of the hooplah, we had to start with the deviled egg plate.

In our previous visits to Supper, they served only traditional deviled eggs.  Last night, however, they featured a special platter with four different types of deviled eggs: one with feta and kalamata olives, one with Old Bay and crab meat, one with black truffle and scallion, and one with curry and mint.  Unfortunately we weren't 100% in love with the spruced up alternative because the feta and kalamata egg was far too salty, and the black truffle and scallion egg packed far too heavy a truffle punch.  Luckily, the Old Bay and crab meat egg and the curry and mint egg were quite good.

We also ordered the smoked chicken wings to start.

The chicken wings, marinated in a birch beer sauce and served with a black pepper and buttermilk sauce, were probably the best I have ever had.  The smoked crust was wonderfully tangy with just a hint of sweetness, and the buttermilk sauce worked perfectly.  [I believe it was at this point that B exclaimed that if he was forced to eat just one protein for the rest of his life it would be chicken.  Although I ultimately selected eggs, these wings definitely gave me a moment's pause]

For dinner B ordered the burger, and I had the scallops.

The burger, which was beef with brisket ground in, was served with applewood bacon, caramelized onions, and a roasted tomato and smothered by gruyere cheese - and yes, it was just as fantastic as it sounds.  Seriously, this burger was out of control.  I don't typically like thick burgers because they are often too bloody in the middle for my taste but this bad boy came out perfectly medium, and the roasted the tomato was genius.  Supper typically serves their burger with duck fat fries but B swapped out the fries for hush puppies.  The puppies were light as a feather, but a little bland for me (I'm used to the buttery, sweet corn southern version).

The boat day scallop dish was equally good.  The scallops were beautifully cooked and served with caramelized parsnips and grilled brussel sprouts over a parsnip puree and an almond and applebutter sauce.  Everything on the plate was fresh, and nicely complementary.


After dinner we watched Cyrus.  Although the now typical "indie" formula in which the film was shot (guided by a lot of hand held camera action) seemed unnecessary against the unfortunately trite storyline - 40-something single mother and 40-something odd-ball guy fall in love, mom's 20 something live-at-home high school dropout son comes between them, ultimately son realizes mom is miserable without her beau and all reconcile - it was alright.


This morning we decided to do brunch at another of of our favorites, Farmicia.  Farmicia's menu also incorporates food from local, organic, and artisanal producers, although it is more static than Supper's.  I stuck with my regular: the hacienda eggs and cheese grits.

The hacienda eggs (2 eggs any style, I take mine over easy) at Farmicia are served on an extremely thin tortilla over re-fried black beans and smothered by fresh tomato salsa, sour cream, and queso fresca.  Accompanied by the creamy cheddar grits, this is one of my favorite brunch dishes in the city.

B ordered the grilled canadian bacon on a toasted english muffin.

Covered with scrambled eggs and grated cheddar, it was essentially an open-faced breakfast sandwich.  It might sound simple, but it was really good.  The only bad thing we had all morning was B's bloody mary because of its a strange, off-putting licorice aftertaste.

Whether deviled, fried, or scrambled - after the last 24 hours of eating I still say that if I had to eat just one protein for the rest of my life I would most certainly choose the egg.